Video Security Camera System

[Ben3361]

Hi,

I am looking for a video security system with at least 4 cameras that would appear on a single screen. Can anyone suggest the best system they might have purchased or are presently using.

Thanks in advance!

[rossvtaylor]

We've used both the Phillips and Night Owl systems from Sam's Club, with good success. Both of ours use 120 VAC to 12 DC power supplies, which makes it easy to just wire them directly to 12 DC.

EDIT to clarify: I should point out that our happiness was/is only with the hardwired camera systems. We tried two different wireless camera systems and in both cases we'd lose signal when we used the microwave oven. We tried different ovens and different circuits. I'd definitely stick with the 100% reliable wired cameras.

[BeNimble]

I have a Reolink 5mp system, it uses Power-over-ethernet cameras, and it came with 500ft of outdoor cat5 cable and 4 cameras and can show all 4 on the screen at once with hdmi output. I think I started a thread on this..it is hard to find honest reviews as most are sponsored. The cameras work great. I record them all 24x7 so the harddrive works hard it i've had it 'crash' twice so it stops recording. Very annoying to see nothing recorded for 2 weeks, so must check on it. The box is right next to me, and as we speak I hear the harddrive clatter so I know its recording.

Are you looking for a backup camera or real security cams? I have a second 4cam setup I bought for my shop but have not even opened the box if your interested,
as I'm working on my own DIY setup. The current ones support 8mp, mine limited to 5mp.

[Ben3361]

I believe I will purchase this one!

https://www.amazon.com/JOINLGO-Chann...omLogin=1&th=1

[Rucker]

That one looks to be a good one.
1. Wired, not wireless, for all the reasons already mentioned;
2. LARGE display. I got the smaller display, and wish I'd sprung the extra cash for the bigger.
3. The cameras that come with your selected system are rugged and work well, just don't drop the dinky little screws that hold them together because they don't seem to exist in local hardware stores (ask me how I know);
4. The monitor mount is rinky-dink, but works. I wonder how the bigger monitor will do on bumpy roads.

Minor note: If you wear glasses you'll be switching between distance viewing (down the road and all your mirrors) and closeup viewing (of the display). I have some cool, distance-only sunglasses I wear for driving that don't give me as good a closeup view of the monitor.

In some traffic situations, like driving in stupidly aggressive California suburban traffic where I want to see the speed-racers coming up on my blind spot, I'll have to switch to my less sexy pair of progressives so I am able to scrutinize the display without veering out of the lane.

[Inner Love]

I have bought an ANNKE 8 Camera system with BNC output cameras able to output mono audio from each camera. The cameras are good, but the DVR is bare bones and is barely handling recording and streaming 3 cameras with it's built in 1 TB hard drive. With only 3 cameras recording 24/7, I can go back over 2 months if I want to, but the playback crashes in the app often if you try to view more for longer than 10 minutes. Because the included cables have no shielding, there is a lot of noise in the audio.



When it's time for permanent installation, I plan on remove the innards from the ANNKE camera housings, and put them inside of exterior weatherproof housings I plan to make out of PVC. I would carry the feeds over quad shielded coaxial cable from each camera all the way to the DVR. If commercially available, I would add coaxial noise filters right before the DVR, for even cleaner analog audio and video. I will also upgrade the DVR to a different brand that can recieve both the ANNKE cameras video and audio signal.



Since the audio and video transmission from the cameras is analog, I would want to split off select camera outputs to a 4 camera input, live view reciever with analog composite or HDMI output depending on cost. With the feeds not passing through a DVR between the cameras and in-cab display monitor, this setup should have non-perceptable latency as I would be using it for real-time, blind spot and rear-view checking while I am driving my skoolie.

[turf]

im curious of anyone to ever use unifi system.

i really like my home setup and am considering doing the same/similar for my bus. for the bus it'd be: a cloud key, 4 cameras, a poe switch. about $800 in hardware. plug that into my existing router and internet and

i have both an old night owl system and reolink. for free i could set up either on the bus, but the home unifi system just works like i think a system should.

imo, the nightowl (that i have) is junk, old, old school. barely usable video. the reolink is a possibility, it records nice video, for just a side/rearview monitor, it'd be fine. the unifi detects, identifies, records, has an interface i know and is trouble free. if you actually wanted a clip of an event, the unifi would have the clips organized by who what where, ready to go easy peasy.

if youve ever seen alarm video footage of a snow storm, the unifi wins hands down.

[Albatross]

We've got some Reolink cameras in the shop. I think they're alright, but I would really prefer some of the older-school IP camera system stuff that 'just works' instead of the kind of crap that tries to transcode the signal into some kind of gibberish simply to lock you out of using whatever other hardware that you want to use on your system.

[cadillackid]

I use a lot of Unifi products in my home and business.. (they send me stuff all the time).. but havent tried their cameras yet...



do you have to buy their DVR or can you just load their software onto your own machine? I know ther Unifi controller i use for the AP's is just software i run in a VM or even on an RPI and can manage / control the AP's.. just wondered how the DVR works if it can be an embedded device of your own..


ih the past i always ran ZoneMinder and various cameras... I havent seen whether there was any luck in getting current gen Unifi cameras working under Zoneminder..


Zoneminder has been my goto for seemingly forever as far as a full featured web based NO-CLOUD-REQUIRED security setup..

[turf]

Originally Posted by cadillackid

I just wondered how the DVR works if it can be an embedded device of your own..


i

the downside of unifi is that it is all proprietary and doesntplay well with outside equipment.
and i do not think it can be run on a virtual machine...... maybe, i'd have to check. the economical hardware for the bus, would be their "cloudkey" which looks to be a mini nvr. running off a POE switch which would have to run the cameras as well as an ap. the network controller does reside inside their cloudkey. they also sell a "veiwport", which could set up screens like your mirrors.... a stand alone system instead of using a laptop or such and logging into a webapge.

i think it'd make a nice system. my biggest concern is longevity of the cameras mounted to ..... my sideview mirrors, weather events that made the cameras unusable or.... idk what else would go wrong.

i like the unifi stuff, i feel like a network pro when i use it because its that easy.

[Kentucky Dreaming]

Originally Posted by turf

the downside of unifi is that it is all proprietary and doesntplay well with outside equipment.
and i do not think it can be run on a virtual machine...... maybe, i'd have to check. the economical hardware for the bus, would be their "cloudkey" which looks to be a mini nvr. running off a POE switch which would have to run the cameras as well as an ap. the network controller does reside inside their cloudkey. they also sell a "veiwport", which could set up screens like your mirrors.... a stand alone system instead of using a laptop or such and logging into a webapge.
i like the unifi stuff, i feel like a network pro when i use it because its that easy.

I wish youse guys would start speaking English again. You are making this simple uneducated hillbilly feel stoopid.